Handyman insurance Handyman insurance

Customisable cover for handymen and property maintenance professionals. Choose from public liability, tools cover, personal accident cover, contract works and more.

Be quote confident. We'll beat the price of any like-for-like quote. T&Cs apply.

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Handyman insurance quote

From£
8.95
per month

Why does a handyman need business insurance?

You're probably well aware of the variety of risks that come with being a general handyman, given that your maintenance tasks will likely vary day-by-day.

Business insurance for handymen makes sure you're covered for these risks, including accidental injury to your clients or members of the public, mistakes in your work and the cost of damage.

With handyman insurance, you can protect yourself, your business, your tools and your employees (if you have any) for when the unexpected happens.

10% of property maintenance professionals paid £8.95 a month or less for their Superscript business insurance between January and March 2023.

At Superscript, our business insurance for handymen can include:

  • Public liability insurance limits up to £5 million
  • Up to £10k cover for tools and equipment (max. £1,000 per item)
  • Contract works cover up to £500,000
  • Up to £10,000 of personal accident cover
  • Cyber cover to protect you in the event of a hack or customer data breach
  • Instant access to your documents

Be quote confident

We're big on fairness. So if you find a lower price for a comparable quote, we won't just match it – we'll go one better and beat it.

So even better than apples to apples, apples to better apples. We're talking Galas to Braeburns.

As you'd expect, T&Cs apply.

What insurance do handymen need?

Start with public liability insurance (and get just that), or customise your policy to cover additional risks.

Public liability insurance

Public liability insurance is considered essential for any sole trader or business whose work involves contact with members of the public. It's designed to cover claims made against you for injury or property damage as a direct result of your work.

Our public liability insurance for handymen gives you the option of picking £1 million, £2 million or £5 million cover to suit your business and the way you work.

Tools and equipment insurance

A misplaced screwdriver is one thing, but damaged, lost or stolen specialist equipment is expensive and can be difficult to replace. And tool theft is no joke - it’s one of the biggest concerns for tradespeople in the UK.

Tools and equipment cover is an optional extra with us, but if you did add it to your policy you'd be protected for:

  • Portable tools and equipment (maximum value of £1,000 per item), up to £10,000 cover
  • Construction plant and machinery owned by you, up to £25,000 cover
  • Hired-in plant insurance, up to £50,000 cover

We'd recommend that when you're not using your equipment to lock it up securely to minimise the risks. And if you're often on the road, we can also offer cover to protect your tools while they're in a vehicle overnight.

Accident and sickness cover

Unfortunately, accidents happen. Accident and sickness insurance comes in three parts to cover workers aged between 16-69.

Firstly, it’s designed to provide financial support for up to 50 weeks if you or an employee goes on long-term sick leave. It can also provide financial assistance for up to 180 nights if you, or an employee, were hospitalised.

And finally, a lump sum benefit of up to £50,000 can be paid out if you or an employee suffers a serious injury or up to £25,000 in the unfortunate event that an insured person dies.

Contract works

This type of cover is perfect for those who do project-based contract work. It insures you for things beyond your control, like fire, theft, water damage and wind damage - and accidental mishaps that can delay the completion of a job. We offer this insurance as an optional extra, with limits of up to £500,000.

Cyber insurance

You may not think that cyber insurance would be relevant to your work as a handyman, maintaining and refurbishing properties. However, anyone who stores customer data, from personal details to card payment details, can benefit from the protection offered by cyber insurance, including cover for:

  • Hacking, extortion and ransomware
  • Accidental privacy breaches
  • Lost income and restoring data
  • Business interruption

Professional indemnity insurance

We all make mistakes, but when you’re surveying, designing or measuring, mistakes could have real life consequences. Tradesperson professional indemnity insurance may help to cover the associated legal costs if a third party accuses you of professional negligence.

Read our guide to tradesperson professional indemnity insurance for more information.

Once you've completed a quote, you'll be able to view a summary of cover. Please always refer to your policy documents for full details around exclusions, terms and limits of your customised cover. Read our guide to understanding your policy documents.

Real Superscript insurance quotes by real handymen

These real-life examples are to give you an indication of the sort of the cover options Superscript customers are looking for, and how much they were charged. These customers' names have been changed.

£9.33/MONTH

Ryan, a self-employed handyman from Slough, with an annual turnover of under £50,000.

Quoted £9.33 a month in May 2022:

  • Public liability insurance (£2m limit)

£15.68/MONTH

Gjon, a self-employed from Nottingham, with an annual turnover of under £50,000.

Quoted £15.68 a month in May 2022:

  • Public liability insurance (£1m limit)
  • Portable hand tools cover (£1,000 limit)
  • Personal accident cover

£47.82/MONTH

Leslie, a property maintenance business owner from South Hampstead, London, with an annual turnover up to £200,000 and four employees

Quoted £47.82 a month in June 2022:

  • Public liability insurance (£2m limit)
  • Employers' liability (£10m limit)
  • Contract works cover (£100,000 limit)
  • Legal expenses cover
  • Personal accident cover

Just need to insure your tools and equipment?

At Superscript, we offer special cover for just the tools and equipment of your trade. You won't be tied into taking out any other covers in your policy so you only pay for what you need.

As a handyman, you can get cover for vital tools and items of business equipment such as:

  • Power drill and drill bits
  • Electric sander
  • Paint sprayer
  • Stud finder
  • Power washer
  • Work bench
  • Laptop and phone

Read more about our tools-only cover.

Handyman claims examples

Business insurance claims are different for every handyman out there working in property maintenance, but here are a few examples of potential claims in this field.

Damaged furniture

While you are applying a layer of paint to the walls of a client's property, you knock over the pot and spill paint over your their velvet sofa, permanently staining it. Your public liability insurance would cover the cost of replacing the sofa in the event of a claim.

Stolen tools

While completing some refurbishment work on the exterior of a property, you turn around for a few minutes to find that an expensive power tool has been stolen. Your tools insurance would cover the cost of replacing it, meaning you wouldn't be left out of pocket.

Accidental injury

When returning home from a job, you are unlucky enough to be involved in a car accident and end up losing a leg. Your personal accident cover can pay out a lump sum benefit of up to £10,000 if the injury leaves you permanently unable to to work.

How do insurance claims work?

The below is a good guide to the process and timescales you can expect when you need to make a claim under your policy.

If you’re ever unsure whether you can or should claim, it’s best to get in touch and we can let you know.

1

Notify us of the claim

Contact us by email at claims@gosuperscript.com, by 24/7 freephone on 0800 772 3059 or by logging in to your customer portal.

Ideally this should be done as soon as possible and within 30 days of you becoming aware of anything which you think may be covered by your insurance.

A good indicator of whether or not to let us know is if there’s an issue which may require a payment to be made on your behalf.

2

We'll get on the case

We’ll acknowledge your claim within 24 hours, and sometimes in as little as 30 minutes! This means you’ll receive email confirmation of your Superscript claims reference and contact information should you need to speak to us.

We will then reach out to you within 48 hours to request any extra information we need to progress your claim.

We’ll keep you updated on the next steps as the claim progresses.

3

A decision is made

We’ll let you know if your claim is successful or not. At Superscript, if your claim isn’t covered, we will always try to point you in the right direction and support you as best we can in getting back to normal.

Read about the most common reasons claims aren't paid.

If your claim is successful, once we have all the documents we need, we will aim to settle claims such as accidental damage, theft and lost equipment within 5 working days.

Handyman insurance FAQs

Can you cover multiple trades under the same policy?

In short, yes. We understand that, as a handyman, you may work across several different trades at the same time so we can cover multiple trades under one policy.

If, for example, you're main activity is property maintenance but you also carrying out building work, we may be able to cover this too. You'll be able to add multiple business activities to your quote as part of our quotation process.

Will I be covered to work abroad?

Our cover gives you the freedom to work temporarily (up to 180 days) anywhere within the European Union, knowing you’re covered as per usual.

Do you cover tools stored in a vehicle overnight?

Our standard cover does not include this. It specifically excludes theft of tools and equipment from any vehicle left unattended between the hours of 9pm and 6am. However, we do offer the option to insure your tools stored securely in your van overnight, if the vehicle is parked in a locked compound, at an additional cost.

Do I need to tell you each time I get a new employee?

This only applies if you run a business that employs staff, so many sole trader handymen will be exempt from needing employers' liability insurance. However, if you have employers' liability insurance with us, you will need to let us know each time you get a new permanent employee. For temporary workers, however, we’ll automatically cover you for up to 50 days in any one period of insurance.

What will affect the cost of my insurance?

The cost of your cover will vary depending on the work you carry out. Jobs that could more easily cause harm to the public, or tools of high value, present more risk and a bigger payout in the event of a claim. This typically means the cost of your insurance will be higher than it would be to cover a lower work, or less valuable equipment.

What excess would I need to pay?

This will vary depending on the nature of your claim. For example, the excess on a public liability claim, or a tools claim, would be £250, while the excess on a hired-in plant claim would be £500. This is because plant tend to be more expensive to replace.

Is business insurance a legal requirement for handymen?

The only cover that is a legal requirement is employers' liability insurance, and this applies to most businesses with employees, but is not required for sole traders. However, you may want to consider insurance for other reasons, such as: your trade association may require it; your clients may require it; you may decide that the risk of a claim against you - or tools theft - is too high a price to pay, not to insure.

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The FCA supervises UK financial services firms to protect consumers. We are directly authorised and regulated by the FCA and our Firm Reference Number is 656459. These details can be confirmed on the Financial Services Register at www.fca.org.uk or by calling the FCA on 0845 606 1234.

A-rated financial strength

Our insurance products are underwritten by Standard & Poor’s A-rated financial strength or higher. This means the underwriter has been independently assessed by the world’s leading credit rating provider and found to have a strong capacity to meet financial commitments (pay claims).

Protected by the FSCS

If you are a business with an annual turnover under £1m, charity with an annual income under £1m, or trust with net assets under £1m, then you will be entitled to compensation from the FSCS in the unlikely event we cannot meet our obligations. Full details and further information on the scheme are available at www.fscs.org.uk.